Buffon proud to skipper Azzurri

Almost ten years and 78 appearances since his international debut, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will captain the Azzurri for the first time on Saturday.

'Achievement'
Buffon takes over from Fabio Cannavaro, who is suspended for Italy's UEFA EURO 2008™ Group B qualifier against Georgia, and the Juventus keeper is looking forward to leading out the side in Genoa. "It is an achievement after ten years with the Azzurri," said the 29-year-old, who made his debut in an October 1997 play-off against Russia to help his country qualify for the FIFA World Cup in France. "I hope to carry on playing international football for a long time. I don't think I'll keep going until I'm 40, but when people talk about the need to bring through a new generation of players, I don't think they're talking about me."

Georgia key
Buffon, who was recently voted into the FIFPro World XI despite spending last season in Serie B with Juventus, is now focused on making sure his team reach next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland. With the Azzurri second in Group B, one point behind leaders Scotland – whom they meet in Glasgow next month – and only one above third-placed France, victory against Georgia is essential.

Complicated
"It's going to be tough to qualify, particularly because a few teams are making everything more difficult than we expected it to be," Buffon admitted. "On paper, we have two easy games [versus Georgia and the Faroe Islands] and one difficult one in Scotland. For now, though, we can only think about beating Georgia. We will have plenty of time to think about the trip to Glasgow."